Nickel-Catalyzed sp 3 C-H Bond Activation from Decarboxylative Cross--Coupling of ,-Unsaturated Carboxylic Acids with Amides. -The reaction of (I) with N-methylformamide or N-methylacetamide, respectively, yields only trace amounts of the corresponding products. -(ZHANG, J.-X.; WANG, Y.-J.; WANG*, N.-X.; ZHANG, W.; BAI, C.-B.; LI, Y.-H.; WEN, J.-L.; Synlett 25 (2014) 11, 1621-1625, http://dx.

Syntheses and Crystal Structures of Two New Sodium Borates [Na 2(H2O)3][B5O8(OH)2] and Na[enH2][B7O10(OH)4]. -Crystals of [Na 2(H2O)3][B5O8(OH)2] (I) are grown from stoichiometric aq. solutions of Na2B4O7 and H3BO3 (slow evaporation; 3 weeks; 60% yield). Na[enH2][B7O10(OH)4] (II) is prepared by solvothermal reaction of a 1:10:3 molar mixture of NaOH, H 3BO3, and en in Py/H 2O (autoclave, 200 C, 7 d; 63% yield). Compound (I) crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/c with Z = 4 (single crystal XRD). The structure contains {Na 2B5O8(OH)2·3H2O}n chains formed by the connection of [B5O8(OH)2] 2building blocks via common Na + ions. Compound (II) crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1 (Z = 2) and comprises infinite {Na[B7O10(OH)4]}n sheets which are formed by linkage of [B 7O10(OH)4] 3building blocks via Na cations. The compounds are further characterized by FT-IR and TG. -(WANG, Y.-J.; JIA, A.-Q.; CHEN, X.-S.; SHI, H.-T.; ZHANG*, Q.-F.; Z. Naturforsch., B: Chem. Sci. 71 (2016) 1, 15-22, http://dx.

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A New Oxidation System for the Oxidation of Hantzsch-1,4-dihydropyridines and Polyhydroquinoline Derivatives under Mild Conditions. -Sodium hydrosulfite/ tert-butyl hydroperoxide is used as new oxidation system for the oxidation of the title derivatives to the corresponding aromatized pyridine derivatives under green and mild reaction conditions. -(BAI, C.-B.; WANG*, N.-X.; WANG, Y.-J.; LAN, X.-W.; XING, Y.; WEN, J.-L.; RSC Adv. 5 (2015) 122, 100531-100534, http://dx.